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3D Printers for $750
- steveklabnik 17y agoOne thing that's not covered in this particular article, but has come to light recently, is that MakerBot Industries is paying people to make parts for the MakerBot. http://blog.makerbot.com/2009/08/06/makerbot-is-pioneering-distributed-manufacturing-get-paid-to-make-parts-for-future-makerbots/ http://blog.makerbot.com/2009/08/06/makerbot-is-pioneering-d...
- onreact-com 17y agoThis is a huge leap. Last time I checked "affordable" 3d printers did cost 15k dollars.
- jacquesm 17y agoIt's a price vs quality thing. Makerbot is a great thing though because it makes this affordable, whatever the quality, some manufacturing capability at low quality (resolution, material choices) is better than none at all.
- replicatorblog 17y agoExactly right. The MakerBot is not a threat to Stratsys, Objet, or any of the other big 3D printer companies, but it does open the door to any school with an engineering bent and the ability to run a profitable bake sale. It helps teach the principles of 3D printing, give people a good reason to pick up CAD skills, and hopefully will produce a cool product or two.
- aaronblohowiak 17y agoI would say it actually helps the high-end fab manufacturers by creating an onramp into the world of 3d printing.
- steveklabnik 17y agoYou're also able to lease many of them now. It's usually about the cost of a car payment. A Dimension machine would run you just under $300/month.
- ars 17y agoHow much does it cost to run?
- rdouble 17y agoWhen I looked into these devices in May, the ABS material was $25 per cubic inch. Most of the professional machines are designed to be run 24/7. I.e. if they stop running for too long they get clogged with goo and have to be serviced by a technician. If you're in the Bay Area, TechShop in Menlo Park has professional versions of these machines and often hosts seminars where you can learn a lot about them for free, or for a moderate price ($30).
- tocomment 17y agoI can't imagine it's that much. Here it says $30 for 5lbs, http://store.makerbot.com/plastic.html http://store.makerbot.com/plastic.html How many cubic inches does five pounds get you? Hopefully many?
- rdouble 17y agoMy (serious) question... can I run gingerbread, or some other bake-able substrate through one of these? I have a molecular gastronomy inspired art project in mind...
- replicatorblog 17y agoThe MakerBot can't print gingerbread, but they did create a "Frostruder" a printhead that deposits cake frosting. The Fab@Home project also lets you print with liquefied chocolate.
- dave_au 17y agoFab@Home dream project: chocolate easter bunnies with anatomically correct frosting organs.
- sp332 17y agoCandyfab! http://www.evilmadscientist.com/article.php/candyfab http://www.evilmadscientist.com/article.php/candyfab http://candyfab.org http://candyfab.org
- niyazpk 17y agoThis page contains the video of one in action: http://www.makerbot.com/ http://www.makerbot.com/
- tedshroyer 17y agoI don't know if it's less expensive to build it yourself but I think Makerbot sells parts for repraps also. http://reprap.org http://reprap.org http://reprap.org/bin/view/Main/PartsSupplies http://reprap.org/bin/view/Main/PartsSupplies
- skwaddar 17y agoThe Utah teapot is used in 3d demos because of it's topological properties, though it does make a cameo in Toy Story.